City/Urban travel

14 Mar 2016

I was just in New York (yay!), so of course I have to talk about the amazing transformation the city has made in its use of public space. (Keep in mind, this is the perspective of a tourist who is totally in love with NYC but really only gets there for a few days every five years or so.)

I’m reading about those changes in a new book called Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution, by the woman who played a big part in making those changes happen: Janette Sadik-Khan, former NYC Transportation Commissioner under Mayor Bloomberg (Seth Solomonow is co-author of the book).

The following stats are taken directly from the book’s chapter titled “Battle for a New Times Square”:

Old Times Square

89 percent of the space belonged to cars, even though 82 percent of the people passing through did so on foot.

Since there wasn’t enough room for all the pedestrians on the sidewalks (and since so many people love to stop and pose for pictures, see goofy tourist above), many people just spilled into the streets and into the path of angry, frustrated drivers.

New Times Square

They closed off Broadway to cars (through the square) and opened it to pedestrians. By routing vehicles around the non-grid-friendly Broadway (it famously cuts through the city on its own trajectory), they simplified traffic flow by restoring right angles. They made similar changes to nearby Herald Square. The book explains it in much more detail.

Here are some results (straight from the book):

Traffic overall moves 7 percent faster than before Broadway was closed (a move that most people thought would cripple traffic flow).

The number of pedestrians injured in car crashes dropped 35 percent.

Injuries for everyone–including people in cars–dropped 63 percent.

Local businesses benefited from better pedestrian access–so much so that by 2011 (two years after these changes), Cushman & Wakefield named Times Square one of the top 10 retail districts on the planet (for the first time in its rankings).

What amazes me is they managed to convince a skeptical population to close off a major artery in the most crowded part of town. And it IMPROVED traffic flow.

Go here for some great before-and-after shots of Times Square and other locations where innovative street design is making cities more people-friendly.

And they’re not done with Times Square yet.

Future Times Square looks even more amazing:

These are renderings provided by Times Square Alliance. The Times Square Alliance collaborated with Snøhetta and the NYC Department of Transportation on the plans for the transformation.

“New research indicates that GPS’s are hindering our ability to create mental maps of our surroundings. My maps aim to install a “Map from the Mind,” simplifying structures and neighborhoods in the most efficient and beautiful way. The circle, our Universe’s softest shape, is the clearest graphic to convey size and connection.” —Archie Archambault

This reinforces my instinct to avoid GPS as much as possible, and force myself to navigate with maps, using handwritten directions that I’ve plotted myself and keeping track of landmarks as I go.

Don’t get me wrong — I love being able to pull up a Google map and look at street view to get a sense of where I’m going before leaving the house. But so far I’ve resisted using step-by-step navigation.

I don’t want to lose the ability to find my way.

What about you? How do you navigate these days?

1 Feb 2016

As a kid I was obsessed with New York City.

The noise. The lights. The chaos. The crowds. The variety of ethnicities. The walk-up apartment buildings. The subway. The narrow streets. The brick buildings. The laundry strung from one 6th floor apartment window to another. The alleyways.

And I hadn’t even been there yet. My idea of the city was entirely based on movies and probably “Welcome Back, Kotter.”

I grew up out in the country in Clovis, California. Land of orange groves, almond orchards, grapevines, an annual rodeo, tule fog so thick in the winter the only way I knew where to turn to get home was by the Christmas lights the guy on the corner left on his hedges around his property, glowing all winter and only visible once I was within about 20 yards of the turn.

But cities have always beckoned.

I’ve now lived in the Los Angeles area for 28 years.

———-

I’ve been ignoring this blog for the past year and a half because I’ve been distracted with a different adventure – grad school. That leaves little time (and money) for travel. But I realized, hey, I could still write about city travel. Or other city things.

I live in a city. I travel around a city every day. There’s plenty of city-travel-related-minutia I can obsess about. Actually, I already obsess about it, I just need to start writing about it.

(For instance, when I decided to start commuting again — I recently got myself an office downtown, after working from home for 19 years — I spent hours online looking for the perfect laptop bag.)

Ok, so here I launch what will be this year’s focus – OCDtravel in the City.

All city-related topics are fair game. Not just LA … cities in general. I also happen to be taking an urban design class this semester, so who knows what fun topics will emerge?!

Here’s my first question – when your travel destination is a city, how do you get around?

Cab

Uber

Rent a car

Public transportation

Walk

I usually walk as much as possible, and go for public transportation when walking won’t work. I love figuring out a city’s subway system.

What about you?

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Travel light.

Efficient, expansive travel requires less, not more.
One bag that serves multiple functions.
A sarong that's also a towel, blanket or sheet.
Clothing layers that pack small and carry light.
A daypack with one-reach access to essentials.
A pocket for my Chapstick.

My OCD

can make me feel encumbered and anxious. But the lighter I travel the more liberated I feel (as long as my Chapstick and water bottle are within reach).

Join me!

"Less" requires planning. For me, honing the art of traveling light is a journey unto itself. And I STILL haven't found the perfect travel bag.

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Disclaimer

The content on this site is based on the personal experiences of an OCD-positive traveler. It is not medical advice. If you think you suffer from anxiety, seek the counsel of a medical professional. Believe me, it helps.